Bolton boss Neil Lennon angry with referee Paul Tierney after draw at Blackburn

A drab Friday night encounter between two winless outfits produced just two shots on target in the 90 minutes - Tommy Spurr and Emile Heskey having chances cleared off the line - but it could have been different had the visitors been awarded a spot-kick after just quarter of an hour.

Zach Clough appeared to be tripped from behind by Shane Duffy after wriggling the wrong side of him and, from the same attack, Mark Davies fell as Craig Conway withdrew his leg from a tackle in the box. On both occasions Tierney, who dismissed Bolton's Dorian Dervite in the closing stages for two cautions, showed no interest.

"I thought we should have had a penalty, at least, in the first half - I thought the referee was appalling," Lennon said.

Clough's seemed the more clear cut of the two, yet the young forward made little fuss and bounced back up to collect the ball.

Asked if his 20-year-old should have appealed, Lennon replied: "Did he need to? There's contact in the back of him, he's gone down, he gets up again and then Mark Davies has gone into the box and Conway has dangled a leg and taken him down.

"Nine times out of 10 that's a penalty, but we weren't going to get anything from him tonight."

Lennon cut a frustrated figure on the sideline, often showing his dismay to fourth official Scott Duncan at Tierney's handling of a tetchy contest that featured eight yellow cards and Dervite's red.

"I might have a chance to go and see (Tierney) afterwards," Lennon added.

"I had plenty of chat with the fourth official tonight. There was one stage where he actually did give a free-kick but we didn't want it because we were breaking four against three. He blows up and stops us - it was just a constant source of frustration, his performance tonight."

It was a third point of the season for both Wanderers and Rovers, who have scored only four times between them in a combined 10 games.

Bolton have managed a solitary goal and squandered a glorious chance late on when Heskey, who usually acts as Blackburn's nemesis, saw Duffy repel what would have been his 14th goal against the east Lancashire club.

"Emile's got a great chance," Lennon said.

"He's only been on the pitch five minutes. Maybe that was the reason why we drew the game."

The point was arguably more important to Blackburn boss Gary Bowyer as it came just six days after a report claiming he had been sacked.

While that proved erroneous, another defeat would surely have provided more scrutiny, but Bowyer was pleased with the commitment his men showed.

"The spirit, their effort and their character has never been in question," he said.

"On another night you're winning that 1-0. We just need the ball to drop at the right time for us. You saw how together they are."